FIVE B's in a Pod: Christmas detox (and a photo purge)

I could come at the subject of Christmas 2011 from many different angles. Most of them would make you laugh as you could probably relate to the mounds of endless presents from family members near and far. The presents seriously never stopped. I know the boys are young and so they are the most fun to give to - they are grateful with one toy and they hold onto it for days (and nights - waking me up to siren sounds from the oldest's crib several nights this past week) so they make a "giver" feel good and let's face it - they are happy with a box and they don't need a "big item." My brother wrapped my present in a very large box full of trash and bricks and I can honestly say Brooks had the most fun in that free box. I've actually packed away some of their loot to swap out later for the forgotten toys but so far - if you gave our boys a gift you would be so happy with your purchase - they literally play all day long and beg to stay up later in order to play one last time before bed. Heck, Brooks sleeps with half of his gifts so he would really make you proud.

Brad was even surprised with a new iphone and for a full week now I have nearly lost him to his new love "Siri."

I can carry his children so atleast I have that on her...she'll get old soon, I hope! Last week I had the best Christmas present ever as I went to the gym for my favorite morning classes that I normally can't get out the door to with NO kids! Half of a workout is lugging the boys, my belly, and their "things" in for a little class so it was truly my favorite gift to leave the boys home with Brad while I indulged myself a little bit. One such morning, I got back to my car to find what looked like a sweet text from my husband. It read:
"She looks hot. She has a nice body."

I didn't think the worst. I have no reason to but I did want to know what Jennifer Anniston movie he was home watching while texting a guy friend. I texted back "Good. I'm glad you are attracted to her." Later that day he took me through a lengthy demonstration of how Siri is supposed to work when you use the proper pronouns. He had told Siri, his new love, to text his wife "she looks hot and she has a nice body" and she did just that and I was actually very happy that SIri had finally failed him. I quickly moved back into first position and thanked him for the compliment though I knew it was a load of cr#p seeing that I am 20 weeks pregnant and feel like I'm full term. Thanks, hon, love ya, too.

But really what was most true of our Christmas (other than the endless meals we consumed with family) was the peace we felt for the first Christmas in a really long time. The first Christmas married was just shy of a disaster. It was our first Christmas married and neither of us were really ready to "share" Christmas with our new families. Then the last two were well above a disaster trying to travel all over the state to see everyone we loved. We vowed last year to maybe never travel again on Christmas atleast while the kids are young and it was the best decision we have made yet. This year Christmas started early with our (dead) tree up the day after we carved a turkey. With kids the excitement starts just then and my car radio didn't leave B98.5 with the Christmas music until nearly a month later last Sunday. So it was a long, full month with lots of time to see our families and be a family by making our own memories and traditions (umm who else got to see the live nativity on Peachtree sporting a llama as a camel and a man off the street at Joseph? A new tradition for sure!) The thing that I can honestly say rang true of the entire season was the deep sense of gratitude that overtook us this season. This was a long, excruciating year for us after what we thought was already a long, tiring year last year. I remember this time last year saying "let's just start a new year....we are soooo ready for a new year!" And then, BAM, we were hit with more trials this year and at a greater magnitude than I ever thought we would face in all of our marriage. But it's really special for me to think that the year ended during the best season of them all with truly grateful, peaceful hearts.

It was really one of only a few Christmas's for me where I can say deep down I wasn't an ounce concerned about a gift I was getting. It's always easy as a mature adult to say that you dont really need anything and it's not about the gifts anyway but gosh, if I were honest many years I really hope that that one special something finds its way under the tree. I almost feel entitled to one grand treat at the end of the year. This year was so different and so refreshing. The boys helped, too. Whenever someone asked Brooks what he wanted from Santa he would look at them kinda puzzled and I would rephrase "whose birthday is coming up?" to which Brooks exclaimed baby "Dezus!" He totally got that it was Jesus' birthday and didn't really pay attention to the Santa thing. Now, I want a whole bunch of Santa in our house....I think it's magical and I know next year or the next Brooks will care more about the jolly, fat man but it was such a simple joy this year to really talk about the birth of Christ the whole month through. We played with our Fischer Price nativity (thanks to Brad's sweet sister who sent it early) and read the Christmas Story to the boys atleast twice a day. And we loved the way our church really taught the boys about the real gift given this time of year. This really was a sweet Christmas for us and such a different way to start a new year as opposed to many of the years before. More so, after coming through the struggle of insomnia with two little toddlers this year I truly feel deep deep down the gratefulness that I had been pleading for in my prayers for so many years. I learned something - that kind of gratefulness can not be fabricated. It really is learned. This year the Lord gave and take away many things but in the end He gave me a new heart and a new perspective that is the best gift I could ever have imagined.

I hope your Christmas was a time of peace as well! We're looking forward to a new year over here but in a different way than last year. It's not a "get me into the new year as fast as you can because last year is haunting us" type of feeling but rather a "bring it on" type attitude because we saw last year how strong we can become when having to walk through the fire.